Delgado, Michael T.

BEED-I Psychology I

What is learning? Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior that is the result of experience. During
the first half of the twentieth century, the school of thought known as behaviorism rose to dominate psychology and sought to explain the learning process. The three major types of learning described by behavioral psychology are classical conditioning, operant conditioning and observational learning. What is classical conditioning? Classical conditioning is a learning process in which an association is made between a previously neutral stimulus and a stimulus that naturally evokes a response. This was introduced in Ivan Pavlovs experiment, where the smell of food was the naturally occurring stimulus that was paired with the previously neutral ringing of the bell. Once an association had been made between the two, the sound of the bell alone could lead to a response. What are the elements of classical conditioning?

There are five elements in classical conditioning: neutral stimulus, a stimulus that does not evoke/trigger a response, unconditioned stimulus, a stimulus that is innately capable of triggering a response, conditioned stimulus, a stimulus that triggers a response because it has been repeatedly paired with an unconditional stimulus, unconditioned response, an innate reflex response triggered by an unconditional stimulus, and the conditioned response, a learned response triggerd by a conditioned stimulus.

What is operant conditioning?

Operant conditioning is a method of learning that occurs through rewards and punishments for behavior. Through these rewards and punishments, an association is made between a behavior and a consequence for that behavior.

What is reinforcement?

In operant conditioning, reinforcement refers to anything that increases the likelihood that a response will occur. Reinforcement is defined by the effect that it has on behavior - it increases or strengthens the behavior.

Kinds of Reinforcement

There are two kinds of reinforcement Positive reinforcement, involves the addition of something to increase a response, such as giving a bit of candy to a child after she cleans up her room. Negative reinforcement, involves removing something in order to increase a response, such as canceling a quiz if students turn in all of their homework for the week. By removing the aversive stimulus (the quiz), the teacher hopes to increase the occurrence of the desired behavior (completing all homework).